Ascension: Rise of a Hero
by ParagonFlynn
Summary: What was originally supposed to be an exciting day for the young hero, an unexpected surprise suddenly thrusts him and his friends into a perilous adventure that will truly test their mettle and their bonds of friendship as they struggle to save the entire Land of Ooo from another world-ending disaster, Continued from 'Before the Mushroom War'. Rated T for violence and language.
1. A New Day

**You might want to read another one of my earlier story first, 'Before the Mushroom War', before continuing on. Or else, you may or may not be slightly confused in the later upcoming chapters. But besides that, I hope you will enjoy reading my final story.**

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**Ascension: Rise of a Hero**

**A New Day**

Everything was perfectly quiet and peaceful, there was naught a single sound to be heard amongst the wide open fields of seemingly never-ending grass. Besides the occasional uninteresting rock randomly dotted across the open fields, their hidden remnants and true origins were already long buried in the past; there was but a lonely giant of a tree in the middle of the massive grassy expanse. Ever carrying the burden of a comfortable and usually far from peaceful house, the giant tree looms into the distant horizon, seemingly lifeless at the still hour of dawn as it continuously waits for the new day with avid anticipation. It didn't have to wait any longer, it seems...

The bright and cheerful sun at the distant edge of the horizon was already encroaching into the blue skies up above ever so slightly in its own enchanting pace, clearly excited to join its joyful cloud brethren whom were already dancing happily in the skies and getting ready to usher in another beautiful new day for the slumbering world below...

A world already long forgotten but now, simply known as the Land of Ooo...

With the sight of the sun finally present and clear in the blue sky, it was the sign (more of a signal actually) for all types of life in the massive Land of Ooo to finally rise up from their enclosed slumbers and enjoy the clear day that was given to them by the 'great and wonderful' Grob Gob Glob Grod, a benevolent four faced deity that rests on the distant planet of Mars as it carries out its entrusted duty of watching over the denizens of Ooo.

The very first one to embrace the bright new day was unsurprisingly, the beautiful kingdom of Candy; its cheerful citizens are already bustling in the winding candy-laden streets of the kingdom as they merrily go about in their peaceful and relatively safe lives. But none of them were ever earlier than the Princess of the Candy Kingdom itself, the esteemed Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, whom was always known to sometimes rise earlier than the sun itself so that she may engage herself in the various royal duties related to being a dutiful princess of a massive kingdom.

Honorable, caring, righteous, kind-hearted and a pretty awesome leader was just a few of the words that was labelled onto this pink bubblegum woman by her very own citizens and the many loyal subjects of the kingdom. She was always seen with a loving and happy smile as she eternally takes care of her Candy Kingdom with as much justice and equality she could possibly uphold. But the Princess of Candy was also known, at least to a lesser extent, to be darkly serious, terribly sadistic and sometimes even horrifying when it came to the important matters of safety for her kingdom.

But besides her generally important role in being a honorable and righteous ruler to the Candy People, Princess Bubblegum was also well-known for being a scientific genius as she constantly embarked in another scientific adventure after another scientific adventure, all in her endless pursuit for a deeper understanding and greater knowledge of everything related to science and mechanical junk. Thanks to her countless efforts though, she has created a variety of different and oddly peculiar machinations that was designed to ease the many lives of the Candy Kingdom and all its close allies.

At least, it was supposed to in paper... She still needs some work in that part though. But basically in the end, she's a pretty kick-ass nerd.

And one notable friend of this kick-ass nerd was another special woman, not exactly quite of this world, but she was nonetheless born and raised in this once forgotten and faded world. This woman, who I assumed is doing the complete opposite of what others are doing right now and instead of waking up to greet the bright new day, I bet she is currently slumbering it all away in the isolated purple little cottage she had called home. Maybe this time, it would finally be a permanent home for her. But, who can say? She was always a strange one...

Why was she a bit strange?

Well, this peculiar and slightly odd woman was actually a 1000 year old woman trapped, willingly or unwillingly, in the body and mind of an 18 year old immortal half-vampire half-demon girl. If that's not somehow the least bit confusing and perplexing way to introduce someone, she could also be much more easily described as, according to some of her friends and fans, one simply awesome and radical dame. This rebellious woman's name was Marceline Abadeer, or going by her more vastly popular and sometimes even dreaded name: Marceline the Vampire Queen.

This pale woman with long obsidian hair used to be very famous when she was a part of a rocking band which was illustriously named as: The 'Scream Queens'. With the manager skills and the overwhelming help they received from Princess Bubblegum, the band had played their rock music in various places and different kingdoms, garnering much fame and popularity throughout the Land of Ooo. But after a number of certain interesting 'events' pertaining to one bad review, Marceline decided to briefly retire from the music business and spent the rest of her eternity of a lifetime by simply partying whenever it is possible, chilling with all her various fans when she has the mood, occasionally just playing around with her world famous Axe Bass (which was fashioned by an old family heirloom, interestingly enough) and sometimes, she would even do completely nothing but just hang out with a couple of her friends till the end of the day... or night.

And one of these particularly noteworthy friend of hers happens to still surprise everyone when he proudly admitted to being close friends with someone such as Marceline the Vampire Queen. Truth be told, he was already particularly infamous in his own creepily annoying and slightly disturbing way but it was still quite a stirring shock to some people, especially to most of the citizens of Ooo, when he had said he knew of the Vampire Queen's true origins. But on the other hand, who in this world would ever believe the nonsensical, disingenuous and just plain crazy words of someone completely insane like the Ice King?

The Ice King; a scrawny, decrepit and ancient old man with a pretty cool beard, was quite a well-known villain throughout the Land of Ooo. But instead of being known as someone evil and dastardly that could possibly threaten the safety of everyone that inhabits the Land, he is actually known to be nothing but just a sheer annoyance to everyone that had the pleasure to meet him. For you see, the Ice King had this particularly annoying habit of kidnapping various princesses from their very own kingdoms and locking them up all the way in his Ice Kingdom, which is just nothing but snow-capped mountains and icy buildings as far as the untrained eye can see.

With the princesses trapped helplessly up there with him, the Ice King would continuously force them or maybe even try tricking the princesses to somehow marry him. The Ice King would try to do such inane and stupid things until a princess is finally betrothed to him or at least, until all the princesses are eventually rescued at the end of the day... It really wasn't that difficult considering the only thing that's stopping you from rescuing the princesses was an old wizard whose clearly past his prime, if he ever had one, and just a few mindless penguins. There are other minions in the Ice King's disposal such as Ice Golems or Ice Bulls, but the old man doesn't seem to know how to really control them, let alone utilize them very effectively...

But moving on; who were these gallant heroes that constantly spend time from their endless days of adventuring, as if there was some kind of unwritten schedule, into saving the precious lives of the princesses from continuingly being disturbed by the Ice King's rudely intrusive behaviours?

Why, it was the very same heroes that saved entire villages from destructively dangerous dragons.

The very same heroes that had slain vicious blood-thirsty monsters when they were mindlessly terrorizing the Land.

It was the very same heroes who constantly embark in epic and most often, life-threatening quests as if it was nothing but just a daily part of their own lives.

These were the very same heroes that have worked hard to become incredibly famous, maybe even legendary, in the entire Land of Ooo.

These heroes who, much against to what some people may have expected when they try to imagine a couple of legendary heroes, is none other but just a young boy with unnaturally long golden hair and his incredibly loyal and super-powered dog brother.

Who in this entire Land of Ooo hasn't heard of the names of Finn and Jake, the Dynamic Duo of Ooo...

And speaking of Finn and Jake, this particular day happened to be a very special and important day for them, at least it was for the young lad known as Finn. Living in their giant Treehouse in the middle of the expansive Grasslands, Finn was already incredibly excited to greet the bright new day in Ooo. Wearing his red... footie pajamas and lying comfortably under the many fur blankets and animal skins atop his bed, the young boy was already slightly peeking through his eye lids in eager anticipation at the first sight of the glimmering sun. And as soon as he had saw the very first sunlight piercing through the glass windows in his bedroom, the young boy simply threw off the fur covers and leapt off from his bed, an excited grin was plastered all over his face.

"Aw yeah! It's time! It's finally time!" He had cried out as he grabbed the white hat resembling a bear's ears from his wooden bedside table and immediately putting it on around his head. He had always wore that particular hat everywhere he went, it was almost like a symbol to him, but the young boy soon stopped wearing it to bed when he found it difficult and uncomfortable to sleep in.

Standing motionless at the side of his bed for a few seconds in a heroic and jaunting pose, Finn could see that his loyal companion and dog brother, Jake, was still sleeping in one of the drawers of the wooden dresser right next to the young boy's bed, snoring the day away as loudly as he possibly could. Finn couldn't help but slightly sighed and briefly shook his head at the sad sight of his brother's lack of any enthusiasm. He couldn't believe it but he knew what he had to do next...

With slanting sly eyes, the young boy immediately pressed his nimble body to the ground and crept his way closer and closer to his brother until he finally made it all the way under the very drawer where Jake was still slumbering away. He silently but carefully peered out his head from under the drawer and gazed into the pudgy orange body of the sleeping dog, still snoring with the occasional wheezy cough. A glinting and slightly evil smile creeped across the boy's face as he slowly raised his right arm above Jake's entire body; Finn's menacing plan was about to come into fruition...

With the speed of a thousand hedgehogs, Finn immediately poked the living daylights out of the poor dog without any clear signs of ever stopping his sadistic wrath. He just kept stabbing and stabbing his very own brother with his own finger...

"Ow! What in the crud is-?" Jake exclaimed in shock as he suddenly found himself prodded from every single direction. Finn continued, increasing the intensity of his non-stop poking...

"Finn?! What's going on?! What are you doing?!" Jake desperately pleaded for an answer as he bared witness to the young boy's monstrous actions firsthand. Finn continued nonetheless in deathly silence...

"Stop it, man! Just stop it!" Jake begged and begged for his brother's mercy. Finn continued heartlessly...

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Jake bellowed and cried out in despair as he desperately outstretched both of his arms and gently pushed his brother a few feet away, immediately making him to stop.

"Oh my Glob! What in Glob's name is wrong with you, Finn?" Jake quickly looked up from the drawer of his bed and immediately demanded to know why Finn would ever do such a horrible thing when the first thing he saw was his pajama-laden brother suddenly bursting out laughing.

"Did you flipping lose your buns or something?!" He angrily shook his fist into the air as his brother kept on laughing with eagerness.

"Can't you remember, blockhead? Don't you know what day it is today, you dummy?!" Finn exclaimed, grinning teeth to teeth, as he was literally hopping madly in one place and shaking both of his arms around the air like he simply didn't care.

"Oh? Ohhhhhhhh .. Oh! OH!" Jake loudly bellowed, bobbing his head up and down before he simply fell back down onto the drawer of his comfortable bed, his mouth largely agape as he immediately let out a massive yawn.

"It's about that time again, isn't it?" Jake softly smiled as he sighed in satisfaction and stretching out his weary limbs until he had completely filled in the drawer, finally understanding what all the nonsensical hubbub with his brother was all about.

"That's right, Jake! That's right!" Finn immediately leapt into the drawer alongside his surprised brother, almost breaking the old wooden dresser as he immediately grabbed onto Jake's bewildered puffy cheeks, pressing his grinning face completely against his poor brother's.

"It's my birthday!"

"It's my birthday!"

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, JAKE!"

"ALERT THE MASSES, MY BROTHER!"

Jake simply smiled as he gave his beloved brother two giant thumbs-up composed entirely from the rough skin on his elongated forehead,

"ONE SUPER AWESOME MEGA TRIPLE FUN PARTY DELUXE SUPREME, COMING RIGHT UP, FINNY BRO!

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**Hello there! This is ParagonFlynn!**

**So if you happen to be one of my old readers, remember that Adventure Time saga that I had planned to write spanning multiple stories before it all finally culminates with one epic finale story? Yeah, terribly sorry about that... ****I wanted to do something like it, I really do, but that was before a hideous beast called 'Life' suddenly grabbed me out of nowhere and carried me away helplessly. ****"GROW UP! GO TO COLLEGE! GET A JOB! BE NORMAL!" The monster screeched into my ears as it clutched onto me with its razor sharp claws before the beast finally gobbled me all up within its endless abyss of a hideously deformed mouth.**

**Anyway, getting back into subject as I stopped being an overly dramatic poncy; I didn't want to leave behind two unfinished and poorly written stories when I stopped writing all these fanfiction stuff. I felt completely unsatisfied with all of it and frankly, a little bit disappointed with myself. So after all these busy months, I decided to come back and just TRY, I repeat, TRY to write and finish the finale story instead. I certainly hope you wouldn't mind if we just skipped all the previous stories in the unwritten saga but trust me when I say you don't really need to know most about it to understand what is about to happen next. Just read 'Before the Mushroom War' and you're basically set!**

**Also, since I'm more or less a hopefully better writer now, I will now try my very best to make my stories a less of a painful mess and hopefully a bit less difficult to read. But in case I still have any massive problems with my horrendous writing, please feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think of it so far. Any honest feedback is completely appreciated!**

**Aaaaaand that's all, really. Thank you for taking the time to read my story out of so many others and I wish you a very good day, my dear readers!**

**-ParagonFlynn**


	2. The Late Arrival

**Ascension: Rise of a Hero**

**The Late Arrival**

She saw the massive Treehouse towering high above her in the other side of the expansive grassy fields, it's familiar green leaves and sturdy branches were ever rustling in the cold mid-day wind as she slowly and callously made her way towards the slightly imposing image of the massive tree. She was completely alone in the middle of the open grass fields, but she simply paid no mind to any of it at all. She didn't choose the company of the Morrow or her dear close friend, Lady Rainicorn. She was simply tired and weary, seeing this brief journey from her Candy Kingdom towards the distant Treehouse as a quiet peaceful moment that she could safely keep to herself. It could probably be one of the only few times she would ever get any form of respite anymore...

After quickly realizing the afternoon Sun gently hanging above her head, she soon picked up her crawling pace and give a little dose of liveliness in every step she took from then on. It would definitely have helped.

She sighed softly as she pressed the little cardboard box within her hands against her chest, briefly checking it to see if there wasn't any kinds of unwanted irregularities and making sure that it was still neatly wrapped in its plain and simple pink paper with an endless pattern of circular strings. Quite decorative... She didn't exactly know what to get for him at first, she simply had no clue what he had liked or hated anymore. They... didn't spend as much time hanging out together as they used to when they were younger. But she had still hoped that he would just like her gift either way. After all, they were still the best of friends, right?

Taking another brief glance at the image of the Treehouse in the distance, she unknowingly pouted and frowned along the way, clearly upset with the thought that she was going to be really late either way, even if she kept it up like this. She was slightly saddened by the fact that she wouldn't be the very first person to be there but alas, what was she to do when she was yet again overwhelmed with the many seemingly endless Royal Duties related to being the Princess of the Candy Kingdom? She couldn't exactly just leave it all to the dust for the sake of it, could she now? Well, not anymore she could... Because right now, she uncomfortably came upon with the possible realization that the only person she could ever think of to entrust the safety of the entire Candy Kingdom and the well-being of all its loyal people would actually be... herself.

No one else in the entire Land of Ooo or the rest of the world is qualified.

No one else deserves the right or even the chance to take care of her beloved Candy Kingdom.

No one...

.

.

.

She should hurry or she would be very late to the party...

When she had finally arrived at the surroundings of the Treehouse, she could easily oversee the familiar but unfamiliar image of the entire Treehouse- The dinky old well at the side, the small pond which was already littered with playful ducks, the little vegetable garden at the back, the ancient power-line stretching all the way behind as it leads to their infamous Junk Cave, the daunting but aged house adorned on the front of the massive Tree and the many winding wooden bridges connecting each of the enormous branches to each other as it all ends with the Lookout Boat up above. She still never understood why they kept referring to it as a Tree Fort.

"That was butts off crazy, man!"

"I triple smoky dare you to do it again!"

"Hey Cinnamon Bun, don't touch- Don't touch-Oh! You- You broke it!"

"This is the best birthday party yet!"

"I want more cake! I need more cake!"

"Step aside, a big plate of Super Spaghetti coming on through! Step aside!"

"Come on, come on, don't hog the bathroom all to yourself!"

"BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY!"

She could already hear the nonsensical loud cheering and some random music, ranging from deafening horns and the occasional bass riffs, emerging from within the ancient hollow trunks. As expected from the very beginning, she was late. She sighed, defeated but not surprised, as she made the final few but heavy steps closer towards the front door of the Treehouse.

There were already colourful streamers, strings of randomly-coloured pennants and balloons of various sizes randomly dotting across the front entrance of the Treehouse. A pair of colourful pinatas, seemingly crafted by the hands of a mere child were hanging besides the front door, daintily dancing alongside the cold mid-day wind. From further inspection, the pinatas were completely stuffed to the brim with the likes of glow sticks, sparklers and even pick sprays- each simply jammed into the very colourful skin of the pinata. This is definitely where the party is being held alright. It was certainly hard to miss...

A large wooden sign with the words, "WELCOME TO THE MOST AWESOME PARTY EVER" were even haphazardly written in bold but rainbow-colored words above the front door to truly signify that this is in fact, the correct place for the party.

She stopped at the front door- double checking her present to see if it was still completely fine before making sure that her pink and light-ish black plaid shirt was all neat and tidy. Her brown khaki pants was still thankfully spotless from the journey but the same couldn't be said for the pink and white sneakers she was using for the entire trek. Maybe they won't notice or mind at all... After finally straightening the glossy pink bubblegum hair above her head, arranging the long and elegant ponytail behind her, she quickly took a deep breath and extended her arm forward.

***Knock Knock***

After waiting for a few seconds, there was no answer. She tried again...

***Knock Knock Knock***

Still no answer, she tried again...

***Knock Knock Knock Knock***

Nope, nothing... Getting real annoyed, she tried again, this time even harder with more gusto and energy towards it.

***KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK***

It was then, she finally heard the distant rumblings.

"Hold on, guys! I said hold on! I think- I think I heard someone at the door!"

"This is it!" she had thought to herself with some sort of falsified excitement, feeling that it would somehow give a certain kind of hopeful boost to herself and her otherwise weary demeanor.

"Be right back, it's probably the delivery guy or something!"

It wasn't long before the door quickly swung open without any single care to it, she held her breath tightly and pressed the gift even more against her chest as the hazy view inside immediately became clearer and clearer.

She could see the silhouette of a young woman wearing a surprisingly long black trench coat covering almost her entire body but with the exception of her feet, which was not exactly touching the ground as her slender legs were actually curved upwards into the air. The long obsidian hair of the woman was simply drooping from the edges of her head, slightly covering the woman's disappointed expression on her face as she saw who was at the door.

"Oh. It's you." The young woman muttered softly, clearly not expecting who it really was to be.

"Sorry I'm late. I got kind of busy." She avoided eye contact as she quickly apologized, slightly embarrassed to even admit to the fact.

"Nah, it's cool. It's cool, I guess... The party was just about to get started anyway..." The young woman mustered up a friendly smile as she callously leaned her back against the wooden door with her arms firmly crossed, pushing the door wide open and at the same time, making way for the late guest to finally join the esteemed party.

A glint of distant familiarity flickered in the crimson eyes of the young woman as she half-heartedly grinned, a familiar grin, but with the glimmer of sharp fangs,

"It was good of you to actually come for once, Bonnie..."


	3. Silent Reunion

**Ascension: Rise of a Hero**

**The Silent Reunion**

"It was good of you to actually come for once, Bonnie..."

The young vampire lady stifled a soft grin as she made way for the late guest to finally enter the Treehouse, jokingly butler bowing and outstretching her hand outwards in a fanciful manner to signify the importance of the fashionably late royalty.

The Princess did nothing but simply mustered a smile in response, slowly walking into the main trunk of the Treehouse and immediately into the familiar but slightly daunting sight of the Treasure Room, filled with the riches and spoils slowly accumulated from all the various Adventures the heroes have experienced through. Multi-colored gems, thousands of golden coins, worn out ladders and dozens of completely bloated treasure chests littered across the entire room in incredibly large piles. It was certainly quite a better sight compared to the old Treasure Room back in the early days of the boys' Adventures... She could almost remember the sight of this very same room containing nothing more than a few couple rolls of broken tin foil and a small but empty cardboard box decorated with many poorly-drawn crayon drawings.

_"How much has_ _changed...", _She had briefly thought, couldn't help but feeling slightly proud at the sight of the new Treasure Room.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Marceline's voice quickly snapped the Princess from her distracted trance. She hesitatingly turned towards the direction of her voice only to see the Vampire Queen was already gently floating right next to the hatch door across the entrance which leads into the living room and into the deafening sounds of music and cheering guests. "Don't tell me you need someone to help you climb a little ladder nowadays, Bonnie? I'm sure you got enough time for just this..." Marceline teased and smiled as she simply hovered above at the end of the ladder, patiently waiting for the Princess to just get her feet into gear already.

"My apologies. I didn't quite knew what came over me..." The Princess swiftly apologized as she immediately made her way to the ladder, picking up the pace of her weary feet. As soon as she had reached the wooden ladder at the end of the Treasure Room, she took a deep breath and simply looked up. The ladder, it seems so old now... She noticed there were dozens, maybe hundreds of little patches of duct tape scattered across the entire framework of the ladder, all for the desperate attempt in keeping the ladder firmly intact.

Taking great care to keep the present from crashing into the floor below with her surprisingly strong grasp, the Princes deftly climbed the old wooden ladder with only one hand. It didn't take very long for her to reach to the very top and accompany the very much uncaring Marceline. After all, Bubblegum had climbed this very same ladder for countless times already, to the point, she could almost feel the exact location of every single step in the ladder.

"About time, Princess. Thought you had gotten lost or something." Marceline joked as soon as she saw the Princess reaching the top of the ladder and immediately swung open the wooden hatch, promptly hovering inside without even stopping a beat. The Princess simply stayed silent as she slowly followed Marceline through the hatch door, leaving the Treasure Room behind her and directly into the overwhelmingly cheerful atmosphere of a barely contained birthday party.

The very first thing she could see as she ascended into the living room was the many smiles and grins abound on the various guests scattered across the massive room; they were mostly unfamiliar strangers like an erratic array of dancing bugs and a few groovy-looking cloud people but some of them were thankfully candy people that she already knew, like the uncontrollably dancing Starchy and Cinnamon Bun who was roaming around the living room and stuffing himself with any free food and sodas he could possibly find.

She had also noticed there was even a few royalty here too surprisingly- besides herself and the ever esteemed Marceline, there was the Slime Princess, Wildberry Princess and Muscle Princess who were seemingly engaged in a possibly thought-provoking conversation at a corner of the living room and away from the madness of the party. Speaking of the living room, there wasn't really that much left in it to still be considered a 'living room', mostly due to the new set of decorations consisting of nothing but messy candy stains and dried up soda blots. Thankfully, most of the furniture and the actual decor still appears to be fine in general if you were willing to ignore its new coat of paint. She just hoped the party didn't somehow escalated into the rest of the Treehouse, at least.

"Sorry about the mess. Ha ha..." A distant forced chuckle from above her quickly caught the Princess' attention.

"I guess you didn't really expect something like this, huh?" Before she knew it, Marceline suddenly appeared beside Bubblegum as she gleefully mustered a grin, showing the silver glint of her fangs as one of her very thin arms slowly crept over the Princess' surprised shoulders. Her muffled voice could be barely heard, mostly thanks to the blaring music screeching from the nearby phonograph somewhere. As always, the Princess doesn't really know the name of the song, not that it actually matters but it's definitely distracting...

Before Princess Bubblegum could think of a reply, she quickly realized something was dastardly amiss with the birthday party itself, something rather important considering the context of the party - "Hey Marceline, where's Finn and Jake?"

Without answering Bubblegum's question, Marceline instead raised her free arm callously and just pointed towards one single direction with an excessive frown written in her slightly impressed face.

Immediately following Marceline's incredibly accurate directions, past the sea of unfamiliar guests and friends, the Princess could make out the faint shape of a burly orange dog, surrounded by hordes of cloud people in the middle of the living room/dancing floor- brandishing two differently coloured flashlights and simply waving them around in the air uncontrollably as his head was entirely covered with an old-looking and colourless lamp shade. The limbs of the strange creature was already either conjoined with each other or outstretched into various directions to the point, it was quite difficult to tell what in the entire Land of Ooo is this strange and mystifying beast. But it didn't take Bubblegum that very long to figure it out- Literally seconds, actually.

Yep, it's definitely Jake alright...

"I'm impressed... It's like he's trying to break his own record of being a party animal." Marceline nodded exquisitely, seemingly an expert in the complex subject of partying. "A record? What record?" The Princess exclaimed confusingly, slightly taken aback with the somewhat revolting sight of a party animal embodiment such as Jake the Dog. "To see how much one could wreck the hell out of the host's place by simply partying as much as possible." Marceline calmly replied, obviously amused with the sight of Jake. At this point, he was almost a flesh tornado or something resembling as such, overturning the sofa and accidentally knocking down the various pictures hanging on the walls, including the large picture which was always mysteriously torn in the middle.

The Princess and Marceline stared at Jake's random dancing for a few good more seconds with hesitation and a bit of intrigue, it was almost hypnotic seeing the dog's limbs flipping out in every direction with a maniacal manner. It was quite distracting to the point, just keeping your eyes away from the rather enchanting technique utilized by Jake was growing to be more and more difficult. But thankfully, it was only a matter of time before one of his wind-up legs finally get caught with the other as Jake stumbled around like a drunkard and gracefully dived towards the sky above the party, dropping the coloured flashlights into the amazed party-goers below him.

He flew high and he flew fast, his entire face was still covered by that ridiculous lamp shade as he kept flying right into the direction of the laughing Marceline and the surprised Bubblegum.

**BAM!**

It was quick and it was painless, at least it was for everyone else. I'm sure it was very painful for the hyperactive dog as he landed face-first between the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum whom simply took one step sideways to avoid the incoming Jake projectile. Marceline was still laughing while Bubblegum carefully knelt besides the lying dog's body to check on it. After seeing that he wasn't moving for a few seconds now, the slightly worried Princess gently began prodding the dog's body repeatedly- "Jake... Jake..." She asked, her voice was slowly but surely filling up with worry and confusion. Why on Ooo will that dumb dog would do such an insane and completely pointless thing?

"Hey, hey Jake, are you okay?" There was almost no answer from the lying dog, except for the continually loud snoring emerging from the lamp shade... _"Is- Is he... Is he actually sleeping?" _Getting increasingly worried and confused, Bubblegum didn't exactly know the solution to this kind of problem.

"Don't worry, Bon! Let good ol' Marcie take care of this. He's clearly been eating too much cakes." Marceline reassured the Princess with a cheerful smile as her feet gently landed onto the wooden floorboards below her before swaggering her way to the exact spot besides the slumbering dog. This time it was Marceline's turn in waking up the sleeping Jake, but what could she possibly do to make any actual difference whatsoever-

"WAKE UP ALREADY, YOU DUMB MUTT!" She yelled as she reared her leg backwards and threw her leg into the opening of the lamp shade, effectively kicking him awake and immediately out of that ridiculous-looking hat. Well, that was rather much more efficient than originally expected...

"YOWZA!" Jake howled as he flew out of the lamp shade with such fervour, his easily-manipulated skin and size made it perfectly harmless for the dog as he leapt forward into the sky once more before doing a radical somersault for added measure and finally landing softly in front of the young Princess Bubblegum. "Ta-da!" The old dog quickly exclaimed triumphantly, waving his arms around in the air with a showing flair. It was almost like the canine had planned the entire manoeuvre from the very beginning...

"Jake!" The Princess smiled sweetly at the comforting sight of an old friend, trying her best not to suddenly laugh at the dog's previously surprised howls. Jake, being the short one he is, quickly raised his head towards the Princess and immediately gasped out loudly, pleasantly surprised to suddenly see someone like her right now out of all days. "Princess Bubblegum- PB!" He exclaimed out of excitement and grinned such a happy grin. "You- You actually came today?!"

"Of course, Jake. I would never miss such a momentous occasion." The Princess was just glad that Jake didn't somehow hurt himself from all that crazed ruckus he just caused. In fact, Jake barely seemed any different after all these years. Apart from his skin containing more wrinkles than before, he just seemed like another one of your average magically super-powered canine.

"That's right, Jake. Our little wonder lady here managed to somehow find the time from her incredibly busy schedule to grace our boring party with her magnificent presence!" Marceline sarcastically exclaimed before she patted the Princess' shoulders jokingly with naught but a smile. The Princess simply kept quiet as she just looked directly towards Jake, emotionless and silent...

"I- uh- um..." Jake stumbled around with his words, trying to quickly think of something else to say and perhaps change the subject. "Ah!" His oddly large eyes lit up brightly as he finally got something.

"Hey, PB! Where's Lady and the Pups?! I thought they were coming to visit today! _There, that question should work out_." Needless to say, Jake was feeling pretty proud with himself._  
_

"Oh." The Princess stifled a worn but comforting smile. "Sorry Jake, but there's been an unexpected change of plans." Jake wasn't feeling so proud anymore and the stifled grin on Marceline's pale face was finally washed away...

"Lady couldn't come today because she had to bring the Pups to visit her parents. Her father, Bob Rainicorn, has recently fallen sick a few days ago and it's gotten a bit worse today. In request from her mother, Lady just had to visit him and she felt like she needed to bring along the Pups too. She wanted me to say that she's very sorry she couldn't come today but maybe, you, Finn and Lady could have another but smaller celebration tomorrow."

From hearing that, Jake simply crossed both of his arms together as he tried his best to hide any resemblance of sadness, worry or sheer disappointment on his disgruntled face as his prideful grin from before quickly disappeared until only painful silence remains.

"Are you... okay, Jake?" She asked.

"Oh, dang..." He muttered, completely disgruntled and malcontented in his own little world. "I- uh... I'm okay, PB. I'm fine." The orange mutt reassured his guest with a fake smile. "It's just that I'm kinda bummed out with all of this. It's just- ...Not another one, you know?"

"What do you mean 'another one'?" The Princess inquisitively asked, curious what he meant but the Hero Dog did not answer immediately. He was still very much overwhelmed with a recent horrifying fact and realization. Seeing the gloomy look deep in the eyes of the dog, the Princess pressed even further, "Jake, what's the matter with you?"

"For crying out loud, Bonnie, he meant another one couldn't come today." Marceline finally chimed in, getting real tired and sick of the apparent cluelessness of the Princess. "First it was that Flame Princess chick, then it was a bunch of royalty people like that Lumpy Space thing and then it was also Lady and her Pups, Heck, even Simon couldn't come because apparently, he had something WAY better to do than this." Marceline exclaimed loudly, obviously angry, obviously sad, obviously worried...

"Now I don't really give a damn about that Flame Princess, but if it makes Finn happy in his own bloody birthday party, then that's perfectly fine with me. But when we found out that almost none of his close friends is actually coming today, we just had to think of something. And that's why we have to scrounge up a group of people whose practically strangers to somehow show Finn that we're actually enjoying ourselves. But when are we going to realize that this is all just freaking pointless?!" Marceline desperately gasped for air as she finished, her voice almost completely muffled by the nearby music.

She looked away from Bubblegum and Jake, avoiding their empty gaze as she unknowingly caressed the shoulder of her trench coat. "We even thought that you wouldn't come today, Bonnie. Everyone's just too busy now... Everyone's got their own lives, I guess..."

Everything quickly fell into complete silence. The grim faces on the Princess, the Vampire Queen and the Hero Dog completely juxtaposed to the deafening music and the cheerful faces on the other guests who was simply minding their own business, clueless to their true purpose in this particular party. No one said another word, especially for the Vampire Queen as this silence was all too painfully familiar for her...

Suddenly remembering something incredibly important, Bubblegum looked within the grasps of her tiny pink fingers to see a little box, neatly wrapped in a pink-colored wrapping paper. Not knowing what else to do, she slowly but quietly handed over the little wrapped box that she has been dutifully carrying for the entire journey to Jake, whom seemed pleasantly surprised at the notion. "Here..."

The Princess mustered the best smile she could possibly make, despite of what just happened. "Before I forget, it's- It's a present for Finn. I didn't know what to get for him but I hope he likes it."

Jake smiled tenderly as he gently grabbed the little box from the Princess. "He'll love it, thanks." He thanked profusely, nodding approvingly with grace.

"Thank you very much, PB..."

Everything was eerily quiet again.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter. I'm sorry it wasn't very much though.**

**I truly apologize if this particular chapter took too long. I have work and college so finding enough time to do this little hobby of mine is becoming more and more of an annoying pain. But know, I will still try to finish it.**

**I guess I should put some kind of deadline or something.**

**At best, is 2-3 weeks okay with you? **

**As always, any reviews is very much appreciated. Do tell me your thoughts.**

**Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story and I wish you a very good day.**

**-ParagonFlynn**


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